This summer I have been so fortunate to be able to travel all the way here from Denmark to the US for 4 weeks with my family. It has for sure been an amazing time and since me and my family are a really active family who like to spend their holiday doing a little different activities than most other people I thought it might be interesting and even helpful in thoughts of upcoming vacations to share some of the awesome things we did here on my little space on the internet I have come to cherish so much since I started last year.

 

California
Where to stay:
–Beverly Hills Hotel: I was so lucky to be at this place and it is GORGEOUS! This place is expensive, but if you have the money or want to spoil yourself – go there, it is worth the money and you are worth the extra luxury 😉

What to do and see:
–Disneyland: Such a magical place especially known for its iconic castle and fireworks at night. For me it turned out to be one of the happiest places on earth as it is told in their slogan as well.

–Downtown LA: Since this was my second time in Los Angeles I decided not to spend so much time walking down the Walk of Fame. Instead me and my family decided to take the elevator up to the highest store of the LA city hall, the view there was breathtaking and it was amazing to be able to to look over most of this city where you could see all the way from Hollywood on one side and to Huntington Beach on the other side.

–Huntington Beach: When in LA I highly encourage you to take a trip to one of the city’s well known beaches. Me and my family decided on Huntington Beach. It is such a beautiful beach where you can find yourself captured by the looking at the talented surfers being there all day and all the little shops on the pier.

-Yosemite: If you ask me this national park is the prettiest park in the whole state of California. Seing Half Dome, El Capitan, Bridalveil falls, the meadows and so many other great scenery will blow you away. Though there are a lot of people on almost all the official trails and it can seem a bit overpacked in the park the nature is still filled with complete unspoiled beauty and wilderness.
A place I can highly recommend if you want to stay in the park for some days is the tent cabins located in Half-Dome Village.

–Santa Ysabel: In this city out in the countryside a huge mine can be found – the world famous Himalaya Tourmaline Mine. Spend some hours in the mine and you almost surely will find beautiful minerals of some kind. Personally I was able to find tourmalines, pink quartz crytals and some other pegmatite crystals.

Utah
Where to stay:
–The Canyons Collection/Canyons Lodge: The Canyons Lodge (located in Kanab) is such a beautiful lodge built in wood and ornamented with elements to create the rustic feel it is known for. This place also offers complimentary bikes for all guests to use.

What to do and see:
–Bryce Canyon: One of the most beautiful national park in the US. This park is known for its red hoodoos which can be described as odd-shaped pillars of rock left standing from the forces of erosion.

–Zion National Park
–The Coral Pink Sand Dunes state park: Coral Pink Sand Dunes is a very scenic area with dunes of warm, pink sand. And the unique thing about this dessert looking place is the fact that every day the sand dunes look different due to the drifting of the wind (and therefore also sand).

Arizona
What to do and see:
–Grand Canyon: This beautiful steep-sided canyon is carved by the Colorado River and should be on your bucket list if it isn’t already. No wonder why this place is so visited and hyped as it is.

–Sedona: The scenery of Sedona totally made my heart skip a beat. Sedona consists of multi-hued stone formations that jut upwards from the high desert floor. This creates a mesmerizing setting perfect for pictures. One thing to be aware of when visiting this area is the sudden change in weather. One minute it can be sunny and the next minute a fierce thunderstorm breaks out. So pay attention to the weather when outside.

–Yuma: If you happen to be in the city of Yuma I highly recommend going tubing down the Colorado River for a couple hours. It is absolute relaxation just sitting in a float and slowly drifting down the river with only swimming, swimming and more swimming to do while being surrounded by nature.
More info can be found here: http://www.yumarivertubing.com/

The typical Arizona landscape

Have you been to any or planning on going to any of these places? Would love to hear!